My BLOG about my journey into the invisible world of ultraviolet UV photography, simulated bee, butterfly and animal vision photography and the special lenses, filters and lighting needed to make it work - also in HD video + 3D stereo.

Monday, September 17, 2007

I was a Canon shooter, always, for many years. Then something happened, I got infected by that "UV Photography Virus" and I switched to Nikon. Why? Easy answer, some Nikon DSLRs are pretty sensitive to UV, but Canons are not. Are they really?

So I did a test after some years of having neglected my Canon gear and shot using the Canon 20D and the Nikon D70 under otherwise identical conditions.

And the winner is...??

Here's the Canon 20D result:

And here is the Nikon D70 result:

Not much visible difference, right? But the real difference gets visible when we have a look at the exposure data:

which is about 8EV (!!!) in favour of the Nikon D70 - a clear winner for UV shooting.

That now does not mean you can't use a Canon DSLR at all, it is just that ISO3200 and 30sec exposure are not really that convenient if you shoot somewhat ambitiously UV, irrespectively of the much higher noise which occurs at that high ISO level.

(Remark as of 2017: Canon cameras also use SONY sensors now, no own developemnts, so also Canon cameras have useful UV sensitivity from what I have read and seen)

So I also have this ultra rare Pentax Ultra Achromatic Takumar f5.6 300mm sitting in my cupboard and I wondered how that would perform in UV.

Just opposite my house is that little mountain about 2 kilometers away and just ideal to take some shots from the upper window of the Windeck castle. It turned out that this lens is razor sharp and produces nice differentials (difference between the visible and the UV shot).

It was slightly sunny, around noon (not ideal for shooting UV actually).

The second shot is the differential and shows how the UV shot differs from teh visual obe. Colors were somewhat adjusted to taste.

The detail resolution is quite astonishing for that lens, which may be seen here on the explainatory plate which is about legible from 2ooo meters!

About Me

This is my blog about my film and photographic work in 3D, ultraviolet UV, infrared IR and fluorescence using special lenses and equipment. All text and images carry my copyright and I do not allow to link to or copy / download from my site or any parts thereof without my prior permission.
email me in case of questions or interest in my images (esp. for non-profit orgs) or if you need a complete camera + lens + filter + light set for UV photography:
postmaster AT macrolenses.de